3 posts tagged “evangelical”

Once again the Pew Forum on Religion and Politics has done great work in providing a snapshot of the country and its' religious views.  This time, Pew has focused on the country's perception of the faithful's involvement in politics and the two parties' open-ness to religion. 

The lastest poll demonstrates that the Republican party is still more accepting of religion and its influence than the Democratic party.  For the most part, the GOP is much more accepting than the Dems.  No surprise there.  The fact that many white evangelicals are less happy about the Republican party than they were last year is very intersting. 

"The Democratic Party continues to face a serious "God problem," with just 26% saying the party is friendly to religion. However, the proportion of Americans who say the Republican Party is friendly to religion, while much larger, has fallen from 55% to 47% in the past year, with a particularly sharp decline coming among white evangelical Protestants (14 percentage points)."

Looking at the poll numbers, it seems that Evangelicals are upset that the Republicans haven't done more to advance a conservative religious perspective and that Democrats are upset that religion has too much influence in government and politics. 

"Most of those who say that religion's influence on government is declining believe this is a bad thing. But Republicans and Democrats who perceive a growing religious influence on government differ over the impact of this trend. Overall, about a third of Republicans say religion's influence over government is growing, and by a wide margin (23% vs. 10%) they say this is a good thing for the country. Among Democrats, 45% say religion has a greater impact on government today, but they generally say this is a bad thing (28%) rather than a good thing (14%). Independents, for the most part, share the views of Democrats."

This distinction between Republicans and Democrats is fascinating.  Roughly third of Rs believe religion's influence is growing and that it is good thing it is growing.  But nearly half of Ds are wary of the growth of religion's influence.  This explains a lot of why candidates that hold Christian conservative credentials only have so much support.  Whether there ever was a moral majority can be debated.  The fact is, it certainly no longer exists. 

The prestigious journal Foreign Affairs, has a cover story asking the question God's Country?  This is a great review of America's religious makeup, the essential differences between Fundamentalism, Liberal Christianity, and Evangelicalism, and the effect religion in America has on foreign policy. 

Rarely has such a well-balanced and thorough treatment of the country's differences of religion been presented.  This article is objective, respectful and insightful in terms of how and why American faith is so closely aligned with politics and policy. 

The author, Walter Russell Mead, accurately points out some of the motivation, rationale, and implications of involvement of the faithful in politics and policy on domestic as well as international issues. Therefore, it is wholly appropriate to generalize the focus of this article from international relations to religions interest in domestic political or policy matters. 

Mead's conclusion is that "evangelical power is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and those concerned about U.S. foreign poliicy would do well to reach out.  As more evangelical leaders acquire firsthand experience in foreign policy, they are likely to provide something now sadly lacking in the world of U.S. foreign policy: a trusted  group of experts, well versed in the nuances and dilemmas of international situation, who are able to persuade large numbers of Americans to support the complex and counterintuitive policies that are sometimes necessary in this wicked and frusterating -- or, dare one say it, fallen -- world."

Let us adopt this objective both domestically as well as internationally. 

Kudos to the Raliegh News Observer for interviewing Randall Balmer and soliciting his thoughts on the Religious Right.  Balmer always brings up good points about  Christianity and society. 

Balmers book Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory, is classic contemporary commentary on the Evangelical subculture.  The PBS special of the same title is wonderful. particularly when he goes to an Evangelical music festival and interviews the attendees and their articulations of faith. 

Balmer has a new book that is sure to be provocative.  It's called Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America.  A more contentious title one could not select. 
Look for a review here soon. 

Back to the News Observer interview.  Balmer addresses public displays of the Ten Commandments, abortion, HIV/AIDS in Africa , and the power of James Dobson and the Evangelical media empire.  He goes directly to the heart of the Right's sacred cows. 

Enough already.  Click the link, read the article and let's discuss.